Plumbers Local Secretary in Ohio Indicted for Theft, Records Fraud

Heather Banhidy isn’t likely to pursue a career with her union any further. On August 12, Banhidy, former office secretary for United Association of Plumbers and Pipe Fitters Local 120, was indicted in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio on one count of embezzlement of $13,906 in funds from the Cleveland-based union and one count of falsifying union records. The charges follow an investigation by the U.S. Labor Department’s Office of Labor-Management Standards.

Prosecutors allege that Banhidy, 50, a resident of Olmsted Township, Ohio, during approximately December 2011 through September 2013, stole union funds by way of falsification, concealment, withholding and destruction of financial records. No information is available yet as to whether she will plead guilty.